1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and composition for treating autoimmune hepatitis in mammals.
2. Description of Background Art
The term "autoimmune disorder" is an umbrella-like term which is used to refer to a large group of unrelated illnesses with unknown causes, but associated with abnormalities in immunoregulation.
Hepatitis is an inflammatory process in the liver which can be caused by a variety of aetiologies, including viruses and drugs.
When a patient is suffering from a chronic hepatitis, but the cause of the disease is not known (i.e., following exclusion of other causes), and is associated with abnormalities in immunoregulation, the patient is said to have "autoimmune hepatitis". Untreated, autoimmune hepatitis is progressive, and can result in liver failure and death.
One current treatment for autoimmune hepatitis requires prolonged administration of corticosteroids such as prednisone and prednisolone. While corticosteroid therapy has been shown to extend life, improve biochemical abnormalities and enhance quality of life in many patients, the beneficial effects of corticosteroids are offset by the often serious complications and side effects associated with the prolonged treatment therewith.
While there have been several proposals for treating autoimmune hepatitis with extracts of calf thymus (e.g., Hegarty et al., Gut 25:279-283 (1984), and O'Brien et al., Int. J. Immunopharmac. 10:651-658 (1988)), none have heretofore been shown to be successful.
There remains a need in the art for new and improved methods and compositions for treating autoimmune hepatitis.